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PI SCOOPLET … CHAIN RESTAURANTS PRESS LAWMAKERS ON HEALTH, FISCAL POLICY: Fifteen restaurant chief executives and other senior executives associated with the National Council of Chain Restaurants have been meeting Tuesday and today with notable government officials and lawmakers including Don Graves, executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska).

The chain restaurants group is part of the National Retail Federation, which in recent years has spent between $2 million and $3.3 million annually on federal lobbying efforts, congressional records show.

K Streeters on the invite include: former Sen. Chris Dodd, former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Donna Brazile, Paul Brathwaite of Podesta Group, Minyon Moore of Dewey Square Group and Vernon Jordan. Cost to attend: $5,000 for PACs and anywhere from $250 to $2,500 for individuals.

BIPARTISAN FIRM FORMS: A pair of veteran influence industry pros have formed their own government affairs consulting firm, Chamber Hill Strategies, which officially opened its doors Tuesday. The outfit will be led by Jennifer Bell — a former aide to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and John Thune (R-S.D.) — and Michaela Sims, a one-time aide to Sens. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

The firm says it’ll focus on health care and tax policy issues before the House, Senate and White House. Bell had previously operated her own shop, Jennifer Bell & Partners, and worked for Patton Boggs and Alston & Bird last decade. Sims had worked several years with the Bockorny Group.

BROWN TO ALPINE: Barry Brown, chief of staff toRep. Mike Burgess (R-Texas), is leaving for the Alpine Group. Brown, who has been on the Hill for more than 20 years, is joining as a vice president. He previously served as legislative director for Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and as a congressional aide to Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas).

An argumentative Wednesday, PI faithful, as the eyes of the nation’s every political watcher are trained on Denver, where President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney are slated to debate tonight during six 15-minute segments that will focus on: 1) economy, 2) economy, 3) economy, 4) health care, 5) role of government and 6) governing. The influence set may be wise to stay up for those last two segments, when the candidates would be most likely to weigh in with their prescriptions for campaign finance and lobbying reform. We’ll have a full recap on what they say — or don’t say — Thursday.

In the meantime, we’d like to hear from you. Send us your best tip, hint, suggestion, fundraising invitation and the like to dlevinthal@politico.com and apalmer@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter, too, at @apalmerdc and @davelevinthal. A few of our cool new followers include: @JulieRHazan @CNYTeacher @Ben_Lockshin @XtinaDavidson @StribSusan @TiffanyMMoore @ball_brad @laurenharmon @EStradley and @JAGreenandCo.

Thanks for reading, and now, back to the day’s top influence industry news …

NRCC PULLS WALL STREET FAT CAT AD: The National Republican Congressional Committee has pulled an ad against Rep. Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) that featured a Wall Street fat cat burning a $100 bill with a lit cigar. The ad is part of an effort to tie Wall Street to Democrats while receiving significant campaign contributions from the banking industry, which Anna reported on earlier this week. A narrator says Owens has "allowed Wall Street executives obscene bonuses while Main Street bailed them out." NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay declined to comment. Republican candidate Matt Doheny, who has previously worked on Wall Street, told the Watertown Daily Times that he wishes the NRCC ad "would have been better."

PRO-CAIN SUPER PAC DEEP IN DEBT: New federal records show that the 9-9-9 Fund, a super PAC that supported former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, is more than $162,000 in debt through Sunday. In its federal filing, however, the super PAC disputes the debt to Infocision Management Corp. of Akron, Ohio, for work done contacting prospective voters. The 9-9-9 Fund reported just $1,611 cash on hand through September.

BILIRAKIS FORMS LEADERSHIP PAC: Three-term Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) has created a new leadership political action committee that he’s dubbed the Giving Us Security Political Action Committee. Congressional members may use leadership PACs separate and apart from their campaign committees to raise money to fund travel, tout political ideologies or donate to political brethren. Robert F. Carlin will serve as treasurer.

CONSERVATIVE OUTSIDE GROUPS SWAMP LIBERAL COUNTERPARTS IN LATE SEPTEMBER: Dave has a top 10 run-down on groups spending money in late September to directly support or oppose political candidates: http://politi.co/UFAhaB

FOR YOUR CALENDAR:Women in Government Relations is sponsoring a team to compete in the Race to Representation 5K at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at American University. Registration details here (you’ll want to join the “Women in Government Relations” team): http://bit.ly/UFv0jc

THE FIVE MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE RACES: Super PACs and other outside groups are plowing millions of dollars into a handful of too-close-to-call House races whose outcomes will go a long way toward determining the balance of power in Congress, writes our Alex Isenstadt, who explores the top five most expensive House races of the election season: http://politi.co/PwfSCI

ELSEWHERE IN THE INFLUENCE WORLD:

• President Obama and his affiliated committees are on track to raise $1 billion this cycle, reports Matea Gold of The Los Angeles Times. http://lat.ms/P8XFjW

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